Mayan weavers oppose corporate theft of their patterns

Indigenous women weavers in Guatemala take action against a fashion industry that has been exploiting their culturally significant and often sacred patterns and symbols by copying them and using them for their own commercial purposes. The National Movement of Maya Weavers is made up of around 30 organisations from 18 linguistic communities in Guatemala, led by the Women's Association for Development of Sacatepequez (AFEDES). By now, they have even introduced a bill to safeguard their textile creations and thus their intellectual property.